Nursing device

ABSTRACT

A nursing device which consists of a bottle, a main nipple body with an aperture for extrusion of milk, a grooved flange member having tubular extensions integrally formed therewith and extending from the underface thereof, an air control ring with a central hole for receiving the main nipple body, the periphery of which fits the groove of the flange and solid grooved protrusions extending from the underside of said air control ring for corresponding relation to the tubular members of the flange of the main nippled body, and a fastening ring to secure the main body and air control ring combination to the mouth of the bottle.

Waited States Patent [191 Yazaki Mar. 27, 1973 [54) NURSING DEVICE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Inventor: SeiichiYazakLSakaiJapan 220,586 4/1910 Germany ..215 11s f t C a Ltd. Osaka, [731 Asslgnee "g g 0 omp ny Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg p Assistant Examiner-Stephen Marcus 2] Filedi g- 1971 Att0meyJames E. Armstrong et al.

21 A 1. No.2 175 166 1 pp 57 ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority D8m nursing device which consists of a bottle, a main nipple body with an aperture for extrusion of milk, a Sept. 8, Japan grooved flange member having tubular extensions integrally formed therewith and extending from the un- [52] US. Cl. ..215/11 B, 215/11 D d f th f ah cohtrol ring with a central hole, [51] Ir t. CI. ..A61 9/00 f r receiving h i nipple body, the periphery of [58] Fleld of Search ..215/11 R, 11 B, 11 D, 56; Which fit the groove f the fl and Solid grooved 220/44 11,44 A, 44 E protrusions extending from the underside of said air control ring for corresponding relation to the tubular [56] References and members of the flange of the main nippled body, and a UNITED STATES PATENTS fastening ringto secure the main body and air control ring combination to the mouth of the bottle. 689,987 12/1901 Pick ..215/11 X 990,662 4 1911 MacG1ashan.. ....215/11 D 5 i 5 Drawing Figures 3,286,864 11/1966 Patterson ..215/11 B NURSING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in a nursing device with a nipple secured to the mouth of a nursing bottle.

With nursing bottles of the type used in the past, the nipple was not formed with an aperture for drawing in air, so that when the nipple was placed into the mouth of the infant for feeding the infant continuously, the pressure within the bottle gradually lowered while being repeatedly increased and decreased every time the milk was drawn out until the portion of the nipple to be caught in the mouth was withdrawn into the bottle.

In order to eliminate such a drawback, nursing bottles in recent years have been equipped with a nipple which is formed with an aperture, for example, in the flange of the nipple for permitting the inflow of air into the bottle during the nursing operation. Since it is required that such an aperture be very small, it is generally impossible to form the aperture simultaneously when the nipple is die-molded, and accordingly the aperture is formed by punching after molding. Thus, the nipple requires a multiplicity of steps for manufacture, and with known methods it has been almost impossible to form, in a separate step, an appropriate aperture of a uniform size due to changes in conditions such as the elasticity of rubber and wear of the punch.

The conventional nursing bottle of this type has another drawback in that it is impossible to control the size of the air aperture. Accordingly, if the aperture is excessively large, a great amount of air is introduced into the bottle which keeps the interior of the bottle at atmospheric pressure, with the result that an instantaneous increase in suction produced by the infant will cause an excessive outflow of milk or permit the milk to flow spontaneously out from the aperture. On the contrary, if the aperture is too small, the amount of air drawn in is too small to offset the reduction of milk to increase the negative pressure within the bottle and result in the same situation as experienced with the unapertured nipple of the conventional nursing bottle. In any case, however, it has been impossible to satisfactorily achieve the desired result. Thus an excess outflow of milk will choke the infant with a cough and turn his stomach, whereas an insufficient outflow of milk is liable to cause the infant to draw air into his stomach, giving rise to aerophagia or filling the stomach with air or causing belching which tends to expel the milk. As a result, nursing has to be interrupted and the resulting fatigue and decrease of appetite make it difficult for the infant to take a predetermined amount ofmilk.

Through repetition of such a situation the infant will experience increasing frustration, which exerts, from a psychiatric viewpoint, an objectionable influence on the infant, especially during the period of six months after birth when most of the brain tissues are formed. Accordingly it is desirable to provide a nursing bottle which is free of the drawbacks described.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a nursing device which is capable of controlling the amount of air to be drawn into the bottle so as to enable the infant to always drink a liquid such as milk in a stable condition in accordance with his sucking ability.

Another object of this invention is to provide a nursing device in which milk is prevented from flowing out through an air aperture formed in the nipple member thereof.

' Another object of the present invention is to provide a nursing device in which the nipple member can be fastened to the mouth of the nursing bottle easily and reliably all the time.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive nursing device equipped with a nipple member which is formed with a suitable air vent and which can be manufactured mechanically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general summary then, the invention is an improved nursing device which consists of several elements including a bottle with a mouth or opening and a feeding unit designed to be fastened over the mouth of the bottle. This unique feeding unit arrangement has a main nipple body with an aperture for extrusion of milk, and around the base is a flange with a groove just above the flange which is defined by a projection above the flange and the flange itself. Extending from the undersurface of the flange are one or more tubular extensions integrally formed with the flange. The tubular extensions can be open at both ends. The second element of the feeding unit is an air control ring which has a central hole for receiving the main nipple body and a periphery which fits the groove above the flange on the main nipple body. Protrusions extend from the underside of the air control ring and are so constructed and arranged as to be in corresponding relation to the tubular extensions of the main nipple body into which the protrusions are designed to be inserted when the periphery of the air control ring is fitted into the groove of the main nipple body. The third element of the feeding unit is the fastening ring. When the periphery of the air control ring is inserted into the groove of the main nipple body and the protrusions are inserted into their corresponding extensions, the undersurface of the fastening ring will engage the outer edge of the air control ring beyond the projection defining the upper limit of the flange groove, and compress this against the outer edge of the flange and the rim of the mouth of the bottle when the feeding unit is fastened onto the bottle.

For a better understanding of this invention, an embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view with part broken 'away showing the principal part of nursing device of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken along the axis of the main body of a nipple;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an air control ring;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view in section showing stop valve means atthe end of an air vent in the nursing device of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view in section showing another embodiment of the stop valvemeans.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to FIG. 1, this shows a nursing device in accordance with this invention, including a nipple member comprising a nipple main body 1 ofa structure to be described later and an air control ring 2 joined together and secured to the mouth 4' of a bottle main body 4 by a fastening ring 3.

The nipple main body 1 is generally made of flexible rubber or plastic and is formed with an annular groove 6 defined by a flange and a projection 5 disposed thereabove as seen in FIG. 2. Tubular members 7 integral with the flange S extend from its under face. Each of the tubular members 7 is open at the upper face of the flange 5 to provide a hole a extending through the tubular member 7. Although the illustrated embodiment includes three tubular members 7, only one tubular member 7 need generally be provided. The end of groove 10 is covered by elastic film 11 when the elements are in a normal state.

The air control ring 2 as shown in FIG. 3 is made ofa rigid plastic material and has a hole 8 for receiving the nipple main body 1. When the nipple main body 1 is inserted into the hole 8, the inner peripheral portion 8 fits in the annular groove 6 of the nipple main body 1 and is held between the projection 5' and the flange 5. The ring 2 is further formed, on its under face, with protrusions 9 in corresponding relation to the tubular members 7 on the flange 5 of the nipple main body, each of the protrusions 9 being substantially pointed at its end to facilitate insertion into the tubular member 7. The protrusion 9 is formed with a groove 10, for example, of a triangular section which extends from a portion proximate to its end and along the under face of the ring 2 and terminates at the outer periphery of the ring 2. The protrusion 9 has a thickness at least equal to or slightly greater than the inner diameter of the hole a of the tubular member 7, the construction being such that when the protrusion 9 is inserted into the tubular member 7, the end 10' of the groove 10 is elastically covered with the elastic film 11 of the tubular member 7 so that the end 10 is thereby closed in the normal state.

In the case where at least two protrusions 9 and tubular members 7 are provided, all of the protrusions 9 may not necessarily be formed with the groove 10 and the tubular member 7 corresponding to the ungrooved protrusion 9 need not be open-ended at its lower portion.

To use the nursing device of this invention having the above construction, milk or some other liquid is placed into the bottle main body 4 and the nipple member is then clamped against the mouth 4' of the bottle by the fastening ring 3. Since the ring 2 is interposed between the fastening ring 3 and the flange 5 of the nipple main body 1, the under face of the fastening ring 3 does not come into direct contact with the elastic face of the flange 5 when the nipple member is to be mounted in place. This serves to eliminate any possible torsion or uneven placement of the nipple main body 1 which has conventionally been experienced when the nipple is to be secured to the bottle. The abovementioned structure also ensures very smooth rotation of the fastening ring 3.

The fastening ring 3, when secured firmly to the mouth 4 of the bottle, causes deformation of ring 2 which is subjected to the resulting pressure exerted thereon by way of the ring 2, with the result that part of ring 2 is forced into the groove 10 in the under face of the ring 2 and said groove 10 is forced into flange 5 to reduce the effective section area of the groove 10 which serves as an air vent. Thus, by clamping the fastening ring 3 against the mouth 4' to a suitable extent, the amount of air to be introduced into the bottle main body 4 from outside can be controlled as desired. More specifically, the difference in pressure between the atmospheric preissure and a reduced pressure within the bottle produced'by suction, forces the elastic film 11 of the tubular member 7 off the end 10' of the groove 10 to permit the inflow of a suitable amount of air so that the infant can always draw out a suitable amount of milk corresponding to his sucking ability. Conversely, if the pressure within the bottle main body 4 incidentally increases during nursing or when the bottle tumbles over, the elastic film 11 closing the groove end' 10' will prevent milk from flowing out from the bottle main body 4.

Instead of forming the hole a extending through the tubular member 7, the tubular member 7 may be closed at its distal end. In this case, the tubular member 7 is formed, at a position above the closed end, with a transverse cut line b extending almost half the circumference thereof as shown in FIG. 5. This also ensures the same effect as the foregoing.

The structure of this invention wherein the protrusion 9 of the ring 2 is fitted into the tubular member 7 with the inner peripheral portion 8' of the ring 2 in fitting engagement with the annular groove 6 so as to join both of the rigid and flexible members together eliminates the possible removal of the nipple main body 1 from the fastening ring 3 and permits the nipple to be secured perfectly, unlike conventional devices.

The present invention has another advantage that since the hole a of the tubular member 7 is of a size suitable for die-molding, the nipple main body 1 can be manufactured mechanically at a low cost for mass production.

Other variations of the foregoing embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A nursing device comprised of a bottle with a mouth, a main nipple body with an aperture for extrusion of milk and a grooved flange member having at least one tubular extension integrally formed therewith and extending from the undersurface thereof, an air control ring with a central hole for receiving the main nipple body and a periphery which fits the groove of the flange, and at least one grooved protrusion extending from the underside of said air control ring located in a position corresponding to the tubular member on the flange of the main nipple body, and a fastening ring.

2. A nursing device according to claim 1 wherein any protrusion groove extends longitudinally from the lower end of said protrusion and along the under face of the air control ring and is triangular in section.

3. A nursing device according to claim 1 wherein the tubular extension is open at both ends, an elastic film extends from the end of the tubular extensions, and when the protrusions on the under face of said air control ring are fitted into said tubular extensions, the elastic film covers the end of the groove in said protrusion.

the groove in the main nipple body is defined by the flange and a projection disposed thereabove so as to receive therein the inner peripheral portion of said air control ring in fitting engagement such that the fastening ring'presses the air control ring against the flange of the nipple main body and the underlying mouth of the bottle when the fastening ring is secured to the mouth of the bottle. 

1. A nursing device comprised of a bottle with a mouth, a main nipple body with an aperture for extrusion of milk and a grooved flange member having at least one tubular extension integrally formed therewith and extending from the undersurface thereof, an air control ring with a central hole for receiving the main nipple body and a periphery which fits the groove of the flange, and at least one grooved protrusion extending from the underside of said air control ring located in a position corresponding to the tubular member on the flange of the main nipple body, and a fastening ring.
 2. A nursing device according to claim 1 wherein any protrusion groove extends longitudinally from the lower end of said protrusion and along the under face of the air control ring and is triangular in section.
 3. A nursing device according to claim 1 wherein the tubular extension is open at both ends, an elastic film extends from the end of the tubular extensions, and when the protrusions on the under face of said air control ring are fitted into said tubular extensions, the elastic film covers the end of the groove in said protrusion.
 4. A nursing device according to claim 1, wherein the tubular extension is closed at its distal end and formed with a radially extending cut line above said closed end, and when the protrusion or the under face of said air control ring is fitted into said tubular extension which is closed at its distal end, said cut line extends across the groove in said protrusion with the cut line portion of said tubular extension elastically covering said grooved protrusion.
 5. The nursing device according to claim 1 wherein the groove in the main nipple body is defined by the flange and a projection disposed thereabove so as to receive therein the inner peripheral portion of said air control ring in fitting engagement such that the fastening ring presses the air control ring against the flange of the nipple main body and the underlying mouth of the bottle when the fastening ring is secured to the mouth of the bottle. 